Sanitary wipe dispenser

ABSTRACT

A sanitary wipe dispenser having a cylindrical housing operatively arranged to store a plurality of sanitary wipes, the housing having an open top and a closed bottom, a resilient cover/dispensing member, the cover/dispensing member having a cylindrical portion arranged to removably surround the open top of the cylindrical housing, an annular portion connected to the cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion extending below the annular portion, at least one opening, and a resilient sealing member connected to the resilient cover/dispensing member at a center point, the resilient sealing member further including a rim arranged concentrically about the center point, the resilient sealing member extending above the annular portion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a sanitary wipe dispenser.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior to the 21^(st) century, folks had to clean a surface, or themselves, with soap and water and dry it, or the person, with a towel or napkin. In fact, as recently as the 1960's, people were cleaning or tidying up in this primitive fashion. However, as people began traveling more and more, industries became more and more demanding, and folks had less free time, people needed an efficient way to clean up, even if on the go. This saw the introduction of wet wipes, typically a non-woven fabric saturated with water and light cleaning agents.

In present times, we know of countless uses for wet wipes. For example, we use wet wipes to clean kitchen surfaces after cooking, to clean other household areas, to disinfect operating room equipment, to clean and moisturize babies' bottoms, and to clean our hands after a sloppy meal. In fact, it is said that the first introduction of wet wipes was in 1963 at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago by Arthur Julius. Julius came from the cosmetic industry, and after presenting his fine-tuned hand-cleaning aid, he began selling his wet wipes to KFCs everywhere. Many know the phrase, “It's finger lickin' good.” This key phrase coined by KFC's Colonel Sanders was the inspiration for their partnership with the Julius family and their wet wipe, as the original KFC recipe would actually stick to the fingers. Now, wet wipes are expected at chicken wing establishments in Buffalo, N.Y. and across the country.

The packaging for wet wipes has taken various shapes and sizes over the past several decades. Ranging from individually wrapped wet wipes to large resealable packages of a hundred wet wipes. The most common problem trying to be solved by the innovative new packaging designs is the preservation of the moisture. If the package is not perfectly sealed after every use, the moisture eventually evaporates away from the wipe, leaving it less than “wet.” When people are in a hurry, often they find themselves not perfectly sealing the package. Often, two problems still remain. The difficulty in which the packaging is resealed and the less than aesthetically pleasing package of wet wipes sitting on your counter, or in your bathroom.

Thus, there is a long felt need for an aesthetically pleasing sanitary wipe dispenser having an easy to use resilient sealing cover.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention broadly comprises a sanitary wipe dispenser having a cylindrical housing operatively arranged to store a plurality of sanitary wipes, the housing having an open top and a closed bottom, a resilient cover/dispensing member, the cover/dispensing member having a cylindrical portion arranged to removably surround the open top of the cylindrical housing, an annular portion connected to the cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion extending below the annular portion, at least one opening, and a resilient sealing member connected to the resilient cover/dispensing member at a center point, the resilient sealing member further including a rim arranged concentrically about the center point, the resilient sealing member extending above the annular portion.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a sanitary wipe dispenser with an easy to open resilient sealing cover.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sanitary wipe dispenser that is aesthetically pleasing.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art upon study of the following detailed description in view of the drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments are disclosed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which corresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the sanitary wipe dispenser of the present invention in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1 in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a left view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a right view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1 with the cover off taken at line 9 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1 in a closed position taken at line 9 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1 in an open position taken at line 9 in FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

At the outset, it should be appreciated that like reference numbers on different drawing figures represent identical structural elements. It should also be appreciated that, while a number of different embodiments and variations of the present invention are shown in the various drawings, the invention as claimed is not intended to be limited to these specific embodiments, as the claims define a broader invention that can take many different shapes and structures. Also, the adjectives, “top”, “bottom”, “right”, “left”, and their derivatives, in the description herebelow, refer to the perspective of one facing the invention as shown in the figure under discussion.

Adverting now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a sanitary wipe dispenser of the present invention in a closed position. Sanitary wipe dispenser 100 is comprised, broadly, of resilient cover/dispensing member 20 and cylindrical housing 10. Cylindrical housing 10 is comprised of closed bottom 12, open top 11 (shown in FIG. 12), and second rim 13 (shown in FIGS. 9-12). Cylindrical housing 10 is operatively arranged to store a plurality of sanitary wipes.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1 in an open position and further illustrating resilient cover/dispensing member 20. Resilient cover/dispensing member 20 is comprised of cylindrical portion 21, annular portion 22, and opening 23, resilient sealing member 24, first rim 25, and dome shaped portion 26. Annular portion 22 is connected to cylindrical portion 21 and extends below annular portion 22. Resilient sealing member 24 extends above annular portion 22. Notably, first rim 25 does not contact annular portion 22 while in this open position. In the preferred embodiment shown, resilient sealing member 24 is connected to resilient cover/dispensing member 20 along dome shaped portion 26 at center point P (shown in FIG. 12) via fastener 28 (shown in FIGS. 7 and 12). However, in other embodiments, resilient sealing member 24 may be integral to resilient cover/dispensing member 20.

Notably, in the closed position shown in FIG. 1, resilient sealing member 24 covers opening 23 and dome shaped portion 26. However, in the open position of FIG. 2, resilient sealing member 24 exposes opening 23 and dome shaped portion 26. This is because, when in operation, and when moist sanitary wipes are stored in cylindrical housing 10, the closed position of FIG. 1 prevents the moisture from escaping, and excess air from entering, cylindrical housing 10, thus, preserving the life of the moist sanitary wipes. Meanwhile, the open position of FIG. 2 allows the user to grab a sanitary wipe from cylindrical housing 10 via opening 23 because first rim 25 does not contact annular portion 22 while in this open position.

FIG. 3 is a front view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1 and further illustrating the relationship between resilient sealing member 24 and the various elements of resilient cover/dispensing member 20. Specifically, in this closed position shown, first rim 25 contacts annular portion 22 preventing moisture from escaping and excess air from entering cylindrical housing 10, preserving the moisture of the sanitary wipes.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a left view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a right view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1. These figures illustrate the symmetrical nature of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a top view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 in a closed position shown in FIG. 1. As resilient cover/dispensing member 20 is positioned around cylindrical housing 10 and more specifically around open top 11, only resilient sealing member 24, and fastener 28 can be seen. First rim 25 is not shown because it is facing downwardly and is in contact with annular portion 22.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1. Closed bottom 12 is shown. In the preferred embodiment shown, closed bottom 12 is rounded, however, closed bottom 12 need not be rounded and may be perfectly planar.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1 with resilient cover/dispensing member 20 removed from cylindrical housing 10, taken at line 9 of FIG. 3. In the preferred embodiment, cylindrical housing 10 further comprises second rim 13 and resilient cover/dispensing member 20 further comprises receptacle 27. In use, receptacle 27 receives second rim 13 which allows resilient cover/dispensing member 20 to surround open top 11 (shown in FIG. 12) in a more secure position. This is shown more clearly in FIGS. 10 and 11. It should be noted that cylindrical housing 10 does not need to have second rim 13, and resilient cover/dispensing member 20 does not need to have receptacle 27. The resilient nature of resilient cover/dispensing member 20 allows cylindrical portion 21 to removably secure around open top 11. A user need simply pull resilient cover/dispensing member 20 and cylindrical housing 10 in opposite directions to separate the two.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1 in a closed position taken generally at line 9-9 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the sanitary wipe dispenser shown in FIG. 1 in an open position taken at line 9 of FIG. 3. FIG. 10 further illustrates the relationship between receptacle 27 and second rim 13. When cylindrical portion 21 surrounds open top 11 (not shown in FIG. 10) receptacle 27 receives second rim 13 so that resilient cover/dispensing member 20 securely surrounds open top 11 of cylindrical housing 10.

FIGS. 10 and 11 also illustrate the transition of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 from a closed position to an open position. Specifically, FIG. 10 illustrates sanitary wipe dispenser in a closed position. Finger F applies pressure in a downwardly direction to resilient sealing member 24 at fastener 28 (not shown in FIG. 10). As fastener 28 is depressed downwardly, dome shaped portion 26 (not shown in FIG. 10 or 11) is also depressed downwardly. Once fastener 28 is fully depressed, annular portion 22 urges first rim 25 upwardly and resilient sealing member 24 is urged into the open position shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of sanitary wipe dispenser 100 shown in FIG. 1. Cylindrical portion 21, annular portion 22, and resilient sealing member 24 are all arranged concentrically about center point P. In the preferred embodiment, fastener 28 connects resilient sealing member 24 to resilient cover/dispensing member 20 along dome shaped portion 26. However, in other embodiments, resilient sealing member 24 and resilient cover/dispensing member 20 may be integral.

Thus, it is seen that the objects of the invention are efficiently obtained, although modifications and changes to the invention may be readily imagined by those having ordinary skill in the art, and these changes and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   10 cylindrical housing -   11 open top -   12 closed bottom -   13 second rim -   20 resilient cover/dispensing member -   21 cylindrical portion -   22 annular portion -   23 opening -   24 resilient sealing member -   25 first rim -   26 dome shaped portion -   27 receptacle -   28 fastener -   100 sanitary wipe dispenser -   F finger -   P center point 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sanitary wipe dispenser, comprising: a cylindrical housing operatively arranged to store a plurality of said sanitary wipes, said housing having an open top and a closed bottom; and, a resilient cover/dispensing member, said cover/dispensing member further comprising: a cylindrical portion arranged to removably surround said open top of said cylindrical housing; an annular portion connected to said cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion extending below the annular portion; at least one opening; and, a resilient sealing member connected to the resilient cover/dispensing member at a center point, said resilient sealing member further including a rim arranged concentrically about the center point, said resilient sealing member extending above the annular portion.
 2. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 1, wherein the rim contacts the annular portion in a closed position.
 3. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 1, wherein the rim does not contact the annular portion in an open position.
 4. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 1, wherein the resilient cover/dispensing member further comprises a dome shaped portion arranged concentrically within the annular portion and the dome shaped portion includes the at least one opening.
 5. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 1, wherein the resilient cover/dispensing member and the resilient sealing member are integral.
 6. A paper or sanitary wipe dispenser, comprising: a cylindrical housing operatively arranged to store a plurality of said sanitary wipes, said cylindrical housing having an open top and a closed bottom, said open top having a first rim; a resilient cover/dispensing member, said resilient cover/dispensing member further comprising: a cylindrical portion arranged to removably surround said open top of said cylindrical housing; an annular portion connected to said cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion extending below the annular portion; at least one opening; a receptacle operatively arranged to receive said first rim; and, a resilient sealing member connected to the resilient cover member at a center point, said resilient sealing member further including a second rim arranged concentrically about the center point, said resilient sealing member extending above the annular portion.
 7. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 6, wherein the rim contacts the annular portion in a closed position.
 8. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 6, wherein the rim does not contact the annular portion in an open position.
 9. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 6, wherein the resilient cover/dispensing member further comprises a dome shaped portion arranged concentrically within the annular portion and the dome shaped portion includes the at least one opening.
 10. The sanitary wipe dispenser of claim 6, wherein the resilient cover/dispensing member and the resilient sealing member are integral. 